This page keeps you up-to-date on the progress of the project through weekly updates. Every week we take you inside the inner workings of our team - what we are up to, who we have spoken to, progress made, and issues resolved. Occassionally we'll ask local officials, business owners, and residents to share their thoughts about transportation in Seaside. And we will always be taking your comments and questions. Check back every Friday for a new update!
July 3, 2009 Update from Ingrid Weisenbach, Planner at ODOT
In the midst of all the beautiful weather we are having in Seaside, flooding issues south of Seaside seem a million miles away. However, I wanted to give you a status update. We realize there are impacts to the highway when the low lying area south of town floods and have heard from many of you how the floodwaters on the highway impact you.
The first step to finding a solution to this issue is to understand how water flows into the Necanicum water basin when the area floods. Without understanding how the water flows, changes to the highway might create unwanted impacts on neighboring properties. When you change the highway, there can be a ripple effect on other aspects of the floodplain, often in unknown ways. A hydraulic model (a model that maps the water basin and shows how the water flows) would help us identify potential impacts, as well as different ways to protect the highway from flooding and the neighboring properties.
Last year ODOT, along with Seaside and Clatsop County, applied to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for funds to develop a hydraulic model. The Army Corps of Engineers is the agency that plays a significant role in floodplain management throughout the United States. They have the skills and resources to develop a hydraulic model as well as receiving federal funds called Public Assistance to States (PAS). We had hoped that this project would be selected for PAS funding; however, the Corps was unable to fund the hydraulic model this year due to limited funding, which only went to existing projects. Despite the Corps' interest in this project, the outlook for 2010 PAS funds looks grim as well.
In an effort to keep this process moving forward, ODOT has requested a cost estimate to develop a hydraulic model. Larry McKinley of ODOT is working actively with the Corps to obtain the cost estimate. ODOT is taking this issue very seriously and is working hard to find an affordable solution to this problem.
Once we know how much a hydraulic model costs, state and local officials can work together to seek funding. The potential for unintended impacts to property and species does not allow ODOT to make changes to the highway without a hydraulic model to guide those decisions, as outlined by federal regulation.
Finally, this weekend we will all be enjoying our Independence Day. Many people will be out on the roads. Make sure to slow down and be safe. Happy 4th of July!
July 2, 2009 Fourth of July Holiday Weekend
This holiday weekend, be careful on the roads getting to your holiday events and celebrations. While we aren't posting a draft recommendation this Friday, check back on July 10 for the functional classification draft recommendations. Until then, here are some useful links to check out. • ODOT's Trip Check – check traffic conditions before you travel • Complete 4th of July guide to the Oregon Coast • Seaside Chamber of Commerce, Event Calendar • Seaside Visitor’s Association, Event Calendar Have a wonderful and safe holiday weekend! While staying at their family's vacation home, siblings Jerry Sappenfield and JoAnn Johnson, celebrated the Fourth of July on the promenade in the 1930s.
June 26, 2009 Week 5: Draft Transit Recommendations This Friday is the fifth in a series of six weeks of rolling out draft TSP recommendations. This week’s discussion is on transit recommendations for Seaside. The Sunset Empire Transit District has participated in the development of these recommendations over the last several months. Two maps show the transit recommendations; there is a printable map of the overall draft transit recommendations and a printable map of a potential Seaside trolley bus route and stations. Please contact us with your thoughts on these recommendations. The Sunset Empire Transit District's Theater Transfer Point is located on Hwy 101 and 12th Avenue. Draft recommendations that have been posted in previous weeks are still available. The final installment of the draft TSP recommendations is the functional classifications recommendations, which will be posted on July 10th. No recommendations will be rolled out next Friday due to the holiday, but please check back next week for general holiday transportation information. Future Workshop - A third community workshop (date, time and location to be determined) will be held to look at the revised recommendations and talk about changes to the highway, Wahanna Road, and Broadway.
June 19, 2009 Week 4: Draft Bicycle/Pedestrian Recommendations June 19th marks week four in a series of six weeks of rolling out draft TSP recommendations. And based on many of the comments we’ve received so far, this is the week you are waiting for! This week’s discussion is on bicycle and pedestrian improvements through Seaside. These include a mixture of bicycle lanes, pathways, bridges, and roadway crossing improvements. View a printable map of the draft recommendations. Please contact us with your thoughts. You can also view draft recommendations that have been posted in previous weeks. The schedule for remaining recommendation is as follows: June 26 – Transit recommendations July 10 – Functional classification recommendations Please check back next Friday to look at more recommendations, and to tell the project team what you think. Future Workshop - A third community workshop (date, time and location to be determined) will be held to look at the revised recommendations and talk about changes to the highway, Wahanna Road, and Broadway.
June 12, 2009 Draft Roadway Recommendations for South Seaside This Friday is third in a series of six weeks of rolling out draft TSP recommendations. This week’s discussion is on South Seaside (south of Avenue F) roadways. View a printable map of the draft recommendations, or read a short description of recommendations. Please contact us with your thoughts. The draft recommendations from previous weeks are still available on the Project Tasks and Materials page. The schedule for remaining recommendation is as follows: June 19 – Bicycle/pedestrian recommendations June 26 – Transit recommendations July 10 – Functional classification recommendations Please check back next Friday to look at more recommendations, and to tell the project team what you think. Future Workshop - A third community workshop (date, time and location to be determined) will be held to look at the revised recommendations and talk about changes to the highway, Wahanna Road, and Broadway.
June 5, 2009 Draft Roadway Recommendations Available (Central Seaside) Each Friday between May 29 and July 10 we will announce a different set of draft recommendations for the Seaside Transportation System Plan. This is the place to learn and comment on recommended bike and pedestrian, roadway, and transit improvements, as well as a draft functional classification plan, which will look at the hierarchy and use of roads in Seaside. Recommended concepts were generally those that met the following criteria: 1. Provided a benefit (in relation to our goals, objectives, needs) 2. Received support from the Project Management Team at January meeting 3. Received support from the community at the January 20th open house Draft Central Roadway Recommendations – Draft recommendations for Central Seaside (roadway) are now available! This area of Seaside spans between 12th Avenue on the north end and Avenue F on the south end. Please remember that these recommendations are focused on the roadways – we will be posting draft bicycle and pedestrian recommendations on June 19th. You can view a printable map (or click on the picture below for a larger version) that shows each recommendation, as well as reading a short description of these items. If you have any questions or comments, please contact us. Please check back next Friday to learn more and to tell the project team what you think of the draft recommendations. Future Workshop - A third community workshop (date, time and location to be determined) will be held to look at the revised recommendations and talk about changes to the highway and Wahanna Road.
May 29, 2009 Interested in the future of Seaside? Each week for the next six weeks, we will announce a different set of draft recommendations for the Seaside Transportation System Plan. From today until July 10, this will be the place to learn and comment on recommended bike and pedestrian, roadway, and transit improvements, as well as a draft functional classification plan, which will look at the hierarchy and use of roads in Seaside. Draft North Roadway Recommendations - You can view a printable map (or click on the picture below for a larger version) that shows each recommendation, as well as reading a short description of these items. If you have any questions or comments, please contact us. Recommended concepts were generally those that met the following criteria: 1. Provided a benefit (in relation to our goals, objectives, needs) 2. Received support from the Project Management Team at January meeting 3. Received support from the community at the January 20th open house Future Workshop - A third community workshop (date, time and location to be determined) will be held to look at the revised recommendations and talk about changes to the highway and Wahanna Road. Please check back next Friday to learn more and to tell the project team what you think of the draft recommendations.
May 22, 2009 Presenting Draft Recommendations to City Council City of Seaside staff will be presenting draft TSP recommendations to City Council on Tuesday, May 26th. These recommendations include some roadway, bicycle, pedestrian, and transit projects. Concepts along US 101, Wahanna Road, and Broadway east of the highway will not be included. That’s because we’re still evaluating concepts along the highway, and because we want to have further community conversations about what Wahanna Road looks like. Finally, our team needs to refine what Broadway east of the highway looks like because the current options don’t sufficiently account for the bus zones in front of Broadway Middle School. We hope you will be able to attend the City Council meeting, 5:00 pm at Seaside City Hall (989 Broadway), Council Chambers. After the meeting the team will incorporate comments that we heard from Council, and will then post draft recommendations onto the project website for your review and feedback.
May 15, 2009 Bring back the trolley? One of the concepts you’ve asked us to consider from the beginning of our TSP work is to reestablish a circulator trolley in Seaside. The old circulator we understand had problems because of the size of the bus itself. Its large size limited what streets it could use and which destinations it could serve. We are revisiting the trolley bus idea with a smaller vehicle that could navigate the streets of Seaside. The trolley would be a rubber-tire vehicle but could look like a trolley. The photo below shows a trolley bus that serves a similar purpose in Boston. Photo of a tourist bus in Boston, Massachusetts (courtesy of freefoto.com) Right now we’re coordinating with the Sunset Empire Transportation District on a potential circulation route and service frequency. Any recommendation in the TSP would of course be contingent on funding and potential ridership, and this could be a medium- to long-term solution. Send us your thoughts on a trolley bus in Seaside. Do you like the idea? Who would ride it? Where should it go?
May 11, 2009 Rolling out the recommendations This last week the project team reached agreement on moving several TSP concepts into the draft recommendations stage. We will be rolling these out for your input at the end of this month. We are ready to recommend:
When you see these on the website, we would like you to write, email, or call us with your thoughts and input. We won’t move into final recommendations until after our next community workshop – to make sure that all of you have had time to review and respond – but we want to start getting your feedback now. In addition, there are a few concepts where we need further review and input before we are ready to make recommendations. These include changes to the highway (US 101), for Wahanna Road, and for Broadway east of the highway. Stay tuned to this website – all of the information will be here.
May 1, 2009 Functional Classification This week we began thinking about Seaside’s functional classification plan. A functional classification plan describes the hierarchy of roads throughout the city. There are generally three categories (arterials, collectors, and local roads) though within the arterial and collector categories we sometimes distinguish between “major” and “minor” facilities. General descriptions are provided below – we’ll refine these as needed to serve Seaside.
Access tends to increase as volumes and speeds decrease, as seen in the graphic below. Roadway classifications in Seaside help us define current and future connections and use and can help us determine where funds can be obtained (certain roadway classifications are eligible for federal funds). For the TSP, we will develop roadway design standards based on classifications.
April 10, 2009 What is taking so long? We’ve heard comments from a couple of people via the website wondering when you will see the draft TSP. So we wanted to take the opportunity this week to talk about schedule. After the last community workshop, it was clear that some elements of the TSP would be straightforward, whereas others would require greater coordination between the City of Seaside and the Oregon Department of Transportation. We began to realize that our overall schedule would need adjustment to allow for conversations and additional analysis to take place. The additional time allows us to maintain our original objective – to make sure that the TSP describes a vision that the City, the community, and ODOT can all agree with. What we're focusing on right now is how the highway looks in Seaside. As you know, the highway is very congested in summertime, yet a previous project that looked towards adding lanes to the highway was not approved by the community. Our team is looking at ways to develop a compromise solution that would improve mobility but isn't a full build-out solution. Part of this work is technical – we need to figure out how this can be done. It also includes figuring out how we evaluate any concepts that come out of this process. ODOT has standards regarding the design and operations for the highway. These standards have been developed over time to ensure that all users are safe. ODOT may need to consider developing alternative standards to recognize the unique context of Seaside, while still ensuring that all users are safe. We can not ask them to compromise on safety. There are limited examples to guide us through this process so we are entering into uncharted territory and this process can take some time. Currently these conversations are within ODOT. It is our hope that we can begin a dialogue with Seaside City Council, Planning Commission, and others to share with them this work. Once we have made progress on the highway issue, we will update our schedule for the remainder of the TSP project, including scheduling our 3rd community workshop.
April 3, 2009 - Guest Column Sunset Empire Transit District, Cindy Howe, Executive Director and Sarah Dailey, Executive Assistant Sunset Empire Transportation District (SETD) located in Clatsop County, Oregon will be receiving Federal Stimulus Funding in the amount of two awards, $465,224 and $125,000. The funds require no matching dollars and will support the purchase of replacement buses, paving of the operations bus parking facilities in Warrenton, new security fencing, security camera installation, portable bus washing machine, and facility improvements to both the Warrenton and Astoria facilities. The $465,224 in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funding was awarded based on a formula developed by the Oregon Department of Transportation Public Transit Division which included ridership and miles driven. The $125,000 ARRA award was through a competitive grant of more than 320 applicants, of which only 59 were successful. SETD’s application competed against those of 172 cities, 26 counties, 28 ODOT, 22 Parks and Recreation Districts, 11 Ports, 40 Rail projects and 26 other transit agencies for the funds. SETD is very excited by the opportunity to see stimulus funds make their way to Oregon and to Clatsop County. Buses ordered by SETD will be built at the new bus building facility in Woodburn, Oregon keeping Oregonians working and SETD staff is currently seeking bids for the work at the Astoria and Warrenton facilities and preference will be given to local contractors and vendors for the work. All stimulus funds require monthly reporting to the federal government and all work must be underway, or “shovel ready” no later than June 17, 2009. As the public transit agency serving Clatsop County, SETD offers an Express Route between Astoria and Seaside, City Routes, and Dial-A-Ride door-to-door service. The Bus is environmentally friendly and supportive of the local economy, operating on Biodiesel purchased from local supplier Jackson & Son Oil. SETD also formed a new community partnership with Western Oregon Waste (WOW), the local recycling provider. Recently WOW transitioned its recycling service to a comingled cart. Overall the change has been a positive one, but residents have found it cumbersome to recycle glass. Glass is not accepted in the comingled cart, and Astoria’s only glass recycle site was at WOW’s transfer station on Williamsport Road. SETD volunteered to offer the first downtown Astoria location. The glass depots are located in a convenient spot next to a bus shelter at the Astoria Transit Center. The depots are used more frequently than anticipated, prompting the district to add a third depot the second week they were offered. Initially the idea of the having the depots sparked concern for potential broken glass laying around, but that not been an issue, and WOW is very diligent in unloading them weekly. SETD also has other exciting news; they are a Silver Sponsor of the American Cancer Society 2009 Relay For Life Event. They will have two teams participating in the relay. The event will take place at Astoria High School on July 11-12th, and will be celebrating its 25th anniversary. SETD has planned two events that feature Relay For Life Fundraisers, including an Eggstravaganza on April 7th and Recycle Event on May 21st at the Astoria Transit Center. Ongoing fundraisers include Drive Away Cancer Wishing Well, Skunk Them! donation container, Coloring Contest and several internal contests for staff. According to the American Cancer Society 1 in 3 Americans are diagnosed with cancer in their lifetimes, and 1 in 4 deaths are caused by cancer. Donations from Relay For Life provide direct financial support to cancer research, advocacy and education. The monetary goal for the Clatsop County relay this year is $82,000. SETD is happy to help with this worthwhile cause. If you would like more information about Relay For Life, please contact event co-chairs: Melanie Cawthon at (503) 738-9605, cawthonm@netzero.net, or Piper O'Brien, (503) 738-3169, obrienclan@seasurf.net.
March 27, 2009 As was the case last week, the Seaside TSP team has been performing ongoing technical work. In this weeks update, we’d like to highlight other transportation news related to the federal economic stimulus. Oregon has received $334 million in federal stimulus funds for transportation. The Oregon Transportation Commission (OTC), which oversees the allocation of Oregon’s transportation federal stimulus dollars, has identified several projects for the northern coast. Cities, Counties, Transit Agencies, and ODOT all submitted requests to OTC to fund projects with federal stimulus dollars. Sunset Empire Transit District has been awarded $125,000 for parking lot improvements, paving, striping, and the installation of security cameras. ODOT has been awarded $2,000,000 to repair and replace guardrail along several highways, including US 101. The Port of Astoria has been awarded $400,000 for pedestrian access paths (path lighting). The point of the federal stimulus funding is to spend the money relatively quickly, which means we can expect to see these projects constructed during the construction season of 2009 or 2010.
March 20, 2009 Some weeks the TSP team is just plugging away at technical work, and this was one of them. We are working right now on developing highway options that balance improving mobility while retaining livability. Indirectly related to our work, one member of the community asked us recently whether the Seaside TSP would address air service out of the Astoria Regional Airport. Although the airport itself is outside the Seaside study area, air service may help those longer-distance trips that are now using Highway 26 and US 101. We were as excited as anyone to report that SeaPort Airlines began offering commuter air service between Astoria and Portland this last week.
Thanks to a $3.6 million Connect Oregon II grant and federal funding, the airlines is offering three flights a day departing Astoria at 6:30 a.m., 10:25 a.m. and 6 p.m. Flights take about 35 minutes and use a nine-passenger, single-engine Pilatus PC-12 plane. Tickets can be purchased at www.seaportair.com or at 1-888-573-2767. Click here to learn more about the service.
March 6, 2009 As we've mentioned the last couple of weeks (see February updates), there has been some confusion about the future of Wahanna Road. The City of Seaside has written a letter about this topic. Please view this letter for more information.
February 27, 2009 A couple of weeks ago, we wrote that one of our possible TSP recommendations – the Wahanna Road extension project – would require an exception to the Oregon Statewide Planning Goals. We received a couple of questions about what that meant. To respond, we asked Laren Woolley, Field Representative from the Oregon Department of Land Conservation and Development, to provide a description of that process. Guest Column - Laren Woolley, Oregon Department of Land Conservation and Development Here is a brief summary of his comments: Extending Wahanna Road to south of Dooley Bridge would trigger the Goal Exception process because it would build a new road in a rural environment outside the Seaside Urban Growth Boundary (UGB). The objective of the Exceptions process is that before a major infrastructure project is built in a rural area, you must must show that you have a transportation need that can’t reasonably be met through alternatives that do not require an exception and without impacting the rural environment. Some of the questions this process would ask include:
Before entering the Exceptions process, the City can undertake the following:
In conclusion, the TSP would undertake some of the above, to compile information to help in a future goal exception analysis of a possible Wahanna Road extension. The TSP can insure that key smaller improvements are made to the existing system, along with encouragement of alternatives modes and traffic management measures. If the city has shown substantial efforts on these systems in the short term, it will be much more likely that findings could be developed in the future to justify an exception for large improvement in rural lands, if needed.
February 20, 2009 We received a letter this week from Dave Langlo of the Wahanna Action Group with some concerns about concepts along Wahanna Road. Dave mailed a copy of this letter to residents of Wahanna Road, Lewis & Clark Road, and the surrounding area. Because the letter contained several inaccuracies, the project team wanted to follow up with some items of clarification:
We appreciate the opportunity to meet and discuss the TSP with the residents of Wahanna Road and Lewis & Clark Road. We hope that residents participate in the next public workshop this spring. In the meantime, if you have comments about Wahanna Road, or any of the other projects being considered in the TSP, please send us a comment.
February 13, 2009 This week the project team continued to compile the bicycle, pedestrian, transit, and local roadway recommendations based on feedback received during the January 20th workshop. One of the local roadway projects under consideration is the extension of Wahanna Road to the south. This extension would provide benefits to traffic flow in Seaside, but it goes outside the City’s Urban Growth Boundary (UGB). Under Oregon law, each city in the state has a UGB that separates urban land from rural land. Extending the roadway south beyond the UGB would traverse forest land and require an exception to one or more of Oregon’s statewide planning goals. The formal goal exception process would not be completed within the TSP planning process. How would the TSP address the extension of Wahanna Road? As part of the TSP process, the project team would gather and document information relevant to possible alternatives in this area which would require a future goal exception, such as a preliminary evaluation and feasibility, general alignment options, and any other supplemental information that will help in a future goal exception analysis. The TSP process would also include policies and implementation measures which outline the City’s desire to keep this opportunity open for further study and to identify the need to protect it. That way, in the future when the City and County are ready, they will not only have a significant information base to move forward, but they will also have measures in place to protect this opportunity.
February 6, 2009 We have updated the summary from our last workshop, since the comment period was open through January 30th. Also, we understand some comment forms were submitted to the City; we'll update the summary one last time when these are reviewed.
January 30, 2009 Where are we now… The project team has captured all of the feedback we received from Workshop #2, which was held on Tuesday, January 20th at Broadway Middle School. The workshop summary is now posted. Generally workshop attendees felt the project is going in the right direction. We were able to get clear direction from the public on pedestrian and bicycle improvements and local roadway alternatives they thought would be beneficial. People agreed with the recommendations to increase pedestrian crossings over Neawanna Creek and the Necanicum River for every-day use, but especially for emergency evacuation needs in the event of a tsunami. People favored connecting 24th Avenue and Lewis & Clark road with a 4-leg intersection at US 101. This would allow better east-west access and would address safety concerns at the existing intersections. It would also preserve left turns onto 24th Avenue which is important to the pet clinic on 24th Avenue, which receives emergency cases. Participants were interested in the extension of S. Holladay Drive and Wahanna Road further south as alternatives to US 101. People also favored sidewalks on Wahanna Road, but acknowledged that improvements may need to differ along Wahanna Road depending on potential impacts. People were also pleased to see recommendations to facilitate pedestrian crossings at US 101 around the Safeway, where a pedestrian fatality occurred last year. One participant felt that feedback he contributed at the first workshop had not been considered by the project team. His comments can be found here. People continued to be interested in what may be proposed for the highway, although no cross-sections were being proposed at this meeting. Some residents said they were concerned that 4 lanes were going to be proposed again for the highway, similar to the “Pac-Dooley” project. It should be noted that much work remains before the team is ready to recommend a preferred option for the highway. If you’d like to learn more about what was said and presented during the workshop, please see the workshop summary and the original workshop materials.
January 23, 2009 We were so pleased to see so many of you come to our workshop Tuesday evening. Thank you! Approximately 50 people signed-in to the workshop and provided feedback on the overall process as well as individual project alternatives for bicycle, pedestrian, transit, local roadway alternatives, and highway improvement ideas. The workshop attracted people who live and/or work in Seaside and from elsewhere on the north coast. Check the website next Friday for a formal meeting summary, but in the meantime, here are some highlights. People generally favored alternatives that proposed a left turn pocket on east-west streets, such as 12th Avenue and Broadway Avenue, at the US 101 intersections. People were also in favor of connecting Lewis & Clark Road and 24th Avenue across US 101 to address safety concerns and east-west connectivity. In regards, to combining Avenues F & G to create a new east-west street that crosses US 101, one participant wrote, “We definitely need this for cars and pedestrians.” Although people liked the idea of easing crossing US 101 with some new traffic lights, such as at Lewis & Clark Road and Avenues F & G, they expressed concern over adding too many traffic lights on US 101 as a whole, which could potentially slow down north-south traffic. We also heard many participants comment, “You’ve done a good job with this process and the posters are very clear,” which was great to hear. If you’d like to review materials we used for the workshop, they are located on the website. If you didn’t make it to the workshop, it is not too late to provide feedback. We’d like to hear what you think. Please send us a online or fill out a comment form and mail it to: Kim Jordon City of Seaside 989 Broadway Seaside, OR 97138 Materials are also posted in the Seaside City Hall Council Chambers. Please stop by sometime this month and take a look. Comment forms will also be available there. Thanks to all for your continued interest and participation; we believe your individual efforts will collectively lead to a Transportation System Plan that will serve the city well for years to come.
January 16, 2009 Attend the Second Transportation Workshop on January 20 This week the TSP team has been finalizing materials for next week’s public workshop. The focus of the workshop is for us to talk with you about the concepts developed for the TSP. These concepts, based on input received from the community at our November workshop. Have been developed by the team and evaluated against the set of evaluation criteria. At next week’s workshop, we’ll summarize their potential impacts and how well they addressed current and future transportation needs. We are looking for input from the community on which local roadway, bicycle, pedestrian, and transit improvements you think work best. We hope to get a sense of community support for certain concepts from the January 20th meeting, and to identify those areas where more discussion is needed before recommendations can be made. Similar to the November workshop we’ll have stations on: • Project Overview • Roadway Improvements • Highway Improvements • Bicycle/Pedestrian Improvements • Transit Improvements Materials for the workshop will be posted to the website on Monday (January 19th). back to top
January 9, 2009 - Guest Column Tim McGinnis, Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) I would like to take this opportunity to introduce myself to you and your community. My name is Tim McGinnis, and I recently moved to the north coast from Bend to be the new Humbug section manager. When I accepted this job and moved from Bend, I was told my days of snow and ice were basically over and that our sand pile would last for two years. My first day here was in November and was spent working with the high water on U.S. 101 south of Seaside. Then, just a month later, the December storm hit. My six person crew and I were in the thick of snow, ice, falling trees and the storm aftermath for over three weeks. That sand pile lasted one week. What a way to get to know the area quickly. A few months ago, David Neys introduced himself as the new District Manager, overseeing the highways in Clatsop and Tillamook Counties. I report to David and am responsible for the highway through Seaside and up OR 26 to OR 103 (Fishhawk Falls Highway) cut-off. I have worked for ODOT since 2003. Previous to my time with ODOT I have worked with heavy equipment and construction for over 20 years. I have been a small business owner and operator, a National Guard member, and I did a tour of duty in the U.S. Army that took me to Grenada and Honduras. I look forward to getting to know this area and the unique challenges we face here on the northern Oregon Coast. In the little quiet time I’ve had between storms, I have gotten to learn about some of the issues facing the highways during high water events, particularly in the area south of Seaside where flooding creates a significant problem for travelers on U.S. 101. Any long term solution will likely be a long, expensive process because of environmental regulations, property impacts, and - most importantly - finding the funding for any improvement. ODOT, Clatsop County, and the City of Seaside are working together on the first steps toward finding a long term solution. As an immediate response to the problem, I want to let drivers know how to get up-to-date information. TripCheck has a camera positioned at the Beerman Creek area and includes real-time updates on the condition of the highway south of Seaside. Updates are also available by dialing 5-1-1 or (800) 977-6368 (ODOT). If you have suggestions or concerns, please feel free to email me (timothy.mcginnis@odot.state.or.us). I am working on the highway most of the time, so my response may not be immediate. I am committed to respond to questions and comments as quickly as possible. I look forward to working for all of you in the future.
January 2, 2009 Happy New Year! The Seaside PMT met this past Monday to discuss the performance of the various concepts being considered in the TSP. Right now we’re reviewing each concept in relation to the set of evaluation criteria we heard from you as being important. Several of the concepts show substantial benefit, including: • Improvements to US 101’s intersection with 24th Avenue and Lewis & Clark Road at the north end of Seaside • Improvements along Wahanna Road, 12th Avenue, and Broadway • Intersection improvements at 12th Avenue and Broadway • Combining Avenues F and G • Bicycle/pedestrian bridges across the Necanicum River and Neawanna Creek at Avenue F and Avenue S What the highway looks like remains our main challenge. This challenge centers on balancing a need for improving safety and mobility with a desire from all parties to minimize access and parking impacts. Our initial work comparing a “three lane” section (one travel lane in each direction and a center lane as median or left turn lane) and a “five lane” section (two travel lanes in each direction and a center lane as median or left turn lane) served as a beginning of the conversation. Now we’re refining the highway concepts, considering information gathered to date along with: • Hybrid option – where is added capacity needed? Where might one lane in each direction be adequate? • Improvements timeline – might improvements be made in stages focusing on smaller projects first? • Improvements to the local network – how to make shorter trips off the highway easier • Land use considerations – what do developments look like on and off the highway? • Other modes of travel – how can we make walking, bicycling, and riding transit more feasible? • Tradeoffs – what solutions will be accepted by all the project stakeholders including the community, the state, and the city? The PMT meets again next Wednesday January 7th to discuss improvements at the south end of Seaside, as well as the upcoming community workshop January 20th. back to top
December 19, 2008 While winter doesn’t officially arrive until this Saturday, winter weather is here. Be careful on the roads getting to your holiday destinations. We won’t have an update next Friday, but we will be back in January. Until then, here are some useful links to check out. • ODOT's Trip Check – to determine roadway conditions before you travel • Holiday Highlights of the Oregon Coast • Seaside Chamber of Commerce, December Event Calendar • Seaside Visitor’s Association, Event Calendar Have a wonderful and safe holiday season! back to top
December 12, 2008 - Guest Column Ingrid Weisenbach, Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) I have been thrilled at the level of interest and participation shown by Seaside residents and business owners as we move through this planning project. When the TSP process started, I had recently moved to the north coast from southern Oregon and knew little about the transportation issues facing the area. Over the last year, I have learned so much from members of the community who have been willing to share their needs and concerns with me. We have held two public workshops for the TSP and these have been a great way for me to hear your concerns. I also appreciate all of the comments that have been sent to us through this Web site. If you have been reading our weekly updates, you know the TSP is now moving into the next phase of development. In this next phase, we will start to evaluate some concepts and how they address the problems previously identified. Some of these concepts have been developed by the project team, and some concepts have been suggested by you and your neighbors. As we discussed in the previous update, the consulting team and I met with technical staff in ODOT to see if any of the concepts had fatal flaws. At this point none of the concepts appear to have fatal flaws, though they all have strengths and weaknesses. This phase of the project is exciting as we start examining those strengths and weaknesses to narrow down the options and what will work and what will not work. Before the next workshop in January, we will develop a clear way to weigh the strengths and weaknesses of the different concepts. This will help us understand what the trade-offs are for each concept. There are rarely perfect solutions, but together we can examine the concepts and learn what does work well and what challenges we face. One of the challenges we face in Seaside is flooding of U.S. 101 at Beerman Creek. Yesterday the Daily Astorian highlighted this issue in the newspaper. Until we find a solution, remember ODOT has a camera on site and you can visit www.TripCheck.com to get real time footage and updates on the condition of the road. As funding for projects becomes increasingly scarce, it will be important to have a clear community vision. Your involvement is critical to the success of this plan, and I hope you continue to stay involved. Thanks for all of your hard work. Ingrid Weisenbach, Seaside TSP ODOT Project Manager back to top
December 8, 2008 Tuesday we met with a technical review team at ODOT to discuss the various alternatives we are considering for the TSP. The agenda from our meeting is located here. The team included representatives from ODOT traffic, transportation policy, development review, roadway design, environmental, and access management. The purpose of this meeting was to find out whether any of the concepts we are considering in Seaside would be infeasible, to talk about additional concepts to be considered, and to identify where additional information is needed. The main findings from the work we’ve done so far include: • No concepts were “fatally flawed” and all remain under consideration • A three-lane section (one lane in each direction with a landscaped median or center turning lane) does not operate well • Improvements to routes parallel to the highway (Wahanna and Holladay) help accommodate local traffic, as well as improve safety for bicyclists and pedestrians • Projects improving east-west and north-south connectivity also make a difference to overall traffic operations The conversation was useful and led us to some outstanding questions: • What do conditions look like outside the summertime peak? • How much congestion will be acceptable? • How do you improve traffic flow without adding too many new signals? In conjunction with physical transportation improvements, the team will also need to look at land use – encouraging travel outside the peak hour, encouraging development off the highway, and a network of bicycle, pedestrian, and transit improvements. Figures from our meeting and the universe of concepts can be found here. back to top
November 26, 2008 - Guest Column Cindy Howe, Sunset Empire Transportation District In May, 2008 I was invited speak at the Seaside Downtown Development Association breakfast meeting to share information and to hear what the folks in downtown Seaside thought about what we do here at The Bus. Although most of the attendees were strong supporters of The Bus, they felt that public transit was not being served to the level that it needed to be in the Seaside area. I told the group that I agreed and that in fact, we had been trying with limited success to get ourselves a seat at the table for the upcoming Transportation System Planning process that was being conducted by ODOT and the City of Seaside. The very next day I was contacted via e-mail by a colleague in the ODOT Public Transit Division directing me to the TSP website where I found survey results that had been conducted by CH2M HILL. They were trying to determine what highest transportation priorities should be addressed in the TSP process. Not surprising to me, the area of highest concern, second only to the Highway 101 congestion issue, was the lack of good public transportation for the residents of Seaside. Since that meeting, the Board of Commissioners and staff at The Bus have worked very hard to meet those transportation needs and I think we are doing a pretty good job. Some of our accomplishments include: • New service connecting Seaside, Gearhart and Cannon Beach with no transfers. • Express service between Seaside and Astoria, with stops at 101/Avenue A and 12th/Highway 101. • Simpler schedules and a more streamlined website. • Streamlined passes and tickets. • Direct service to Clatsop Community College for south county students, who now ride free with their student I.D. cards. • Service along Wahanna Road, Providence Hospital and Seaside Library. Other issues that The Bus is currently working on and hope to have in place in the next 12 months include: • More visibility and user aids for passengers, including bus stop signs, displays and shelters. • Increased presentations of “How to Ride The Bus” at local schools and organizations. • Transit Center/Daycare/park and ride facility in downtown Seaside. We are always open to suggestions and comments. Please see your driver for a comment form or visit our website or call us at 503-861-RIDE, 1-800-776-6406 for more information. back to top
November 21, 2008 We finalized the summary of our November 6th workshop this week. You can find the summary along with all the other material from the workshop, on the Project Materials page. Also, if you missed the article on the workshop in last week’s Seaside Signal, you can still get it online. This week we continued to develop alternatives for Seaside bicycle, pedestrian, transit, local roadway, and highway improvements. We are working pretty quickly as we need to be ready to present preliminary findings to ODOT at a meeting on December 2nd. However, we will continue developing and evaluating concepts until after our second public workshop. Speaking of which, we have scheduled a date and time for the second public workshop. This will be held on Tuesday, January 20th from 5:00-8:00 pm. Please save the date! We are confirming a meeting location and will post that when it is ready. So what do we do to develop alternatives? In planning, much of what we do is lay out typical improvement types over aerials to get a sense of what will fit within existing right of way, and/or what additional right of way would be needed to build the project. We also look at the concepts in relation to available land use and environmental data to see whether the concept is consistent with local and regional goals, and whether it impacts any sensitive environmental areas. Once we have this information, we conduct a preliminary evaluation. Questions that we will ask include: • Does the improvement address a known deficiency? • How does it perform? Does it do a good job of reducing traffic, increasing safety, improving connectivity? • Is there a simpler solution that will serve the same purpose? • What impacts does the concept create? • Is there room for the improvement, or will it require the purchase of some right of way? • How cost effective is the concept? How easily can it be constructed? If you are interested in learning more about how we evaluate projects, please read our evaluation framework. Cindy Howe from the Sunset Empire Transportation District will be the guest for next week’s update.
November 14, 2008 Moving Forward . . . The Future Conditions and Deficiencies Memo has been finalized. Our main objective this past week has been to sort through all the feedback we received from the community at last week’s workshop. I thought last week that I could post the workshop summary today. Alas, this has been delayed a few days because our summary is 13 pages long! This is good, it means we have a lot of excellent feedback. But I also promised to give the staff from the City of Seaside, ODOT, Clatsop County, and the consultant team that were at the workshop a few days to review the summary and add anything they heard that was missing from the summary. This means the summary isn’t finalized yet, but we will be in great shape to post it next Friday (11/21). So what happens next? The team is now focused on combining comments from the workshop with the initial concepts we have developed to date to prepare our “universe of options.” We will be asking our Project Management Team (PMT) to review this list of projects next week and will post it to the site when it is ready. Over the next few weeks our technical team will be developing conceptual bike/ped, transit, local roadway, and highway design concepts. We scheduled a technical review meeting with ODOT on December 2nd to discuss these concepts. The objective of this meeting is to find out whether any are just infeasible. This is always a key step in the process – we never want to get to the draft plan stage and find out that we have to pull a concept because it could never be built! Also this week we scheduled our next PMT meeting for December 17th at 2:00pm over at City Hall. We are working to schedule our second workshop for January and our third workshop for late February. The workshops will be from 5-8 pm and we’re still identifying a location. Any ideas? Let us know by posting a comment. back to top
November 7, 2008 Thanks to so many of you who came to our workshop last night. We had about 60 people sign in to the event and we are very pleased at the suggestions and concepts you gave as well as the feedback we received from you on our initial bicycle, pedestrian, transit, local roadway, and highway improvement ideas. We will be doing a formal meeting summary next week and will post this to the site next Friday, but in the meantime we wanted to use this opportunity to highlight some of last night’s activities. Some comments we heard: "When will we get a crosswalk in front of Safeway? My husband has been waiting for thirty years." "Liked the bus stops expanded through town with increased access to public transport. Hopefully bus times will increase too." "Ideas for maintenance of islands [landscape medians] – Pacifica Project, Senior Club Council, Southwestern Garden Club, Adopt-a-Highway Group, non-profits that receive money from the City as a community give back." "Like the roundabout at Lewis and Clark / Wahanna to alleviate church traffic." "Keep public input very open at all stages so we succeed this time." "Like pedestrian islands, they serve as a traffic calming feature, put in as many as possible/feasible." "Complete three lanes through Seaside. A center-turn lane helps with traffic flow. In regards to landscaped medians, Seaside already has a greenway on both sides of 101." All the material from last night’s meeting is located on the Tasks and Materials page. If you weren’t able to make it to the meeting last night, please send us a comment online or fill out a comment form and mail it to: Kim Jordan City of Seaside 989 Broadway Seaside, OR 97138 Starting Monday the project needs and project ideas maps will be posted in the Seaside City Hall Council Chambers. Please stop by sometime this month and take a look. Comment forms will be located there as well. back to top
October 31, 2008 - Guest Column Don Larson, Seaside Mayor and Eric Havig, ODOT Regional Planning Manager How you can help to improve transportation in Seaside We would like to thank the Seaside Signal for allowing the City of Seaside and the ODOT the opportunity to let the community know about the Seaside Transportation System Plan (TSP), and why it is important for residents to get involved in the process. Because cities, counties and the state are struggling to maintain our existing transportation system, state planning rules require all governments to create regionally-coordinated TSPs so that tax dollars are only spent on projects that meet established local and regional transportation priorities. The Seaside TSP will establish priorities and set the stage for future transportation improvements in the area. This is where you can help your community. We are asking you to lend your expertise to this project. Come to the first public meeting on November 6. Voice your concerns, ideas, and suggestions directly to the City and ODOT staff. The Seaside TSP is a joint effort among the city, county and state, because all of the jurisdictions are legally responsible for infrastructure that affects Seaside. It is that shared responsibility here and in other Oregon communities that has driven policy changes requiring much more collaboration in planning transportation projects - that is a good thing for all of us, because it ensures that our tax dollars are spent effectively. View this article, as printed in the Seaside Signal on October 30, 2008. back to top
October 27, 2008 Last week we talked about ODOT and the City of Seaside leading a station at the upcoming workshop, and we promised that we’d know who would be staffing this station by this Friday. The representatives will be Mark Winstanley, City Manager for Seaside, and Erik Havig, ODOT’s Planning and Development Manager. Both are looking forward to talking with the community about transportation! This week the technical team started pulling together some ideas for transportation improvements to discuss with the community at the November 6th workshop. Last week the whole team got together, and we were able to talk through bicycle, pedestrian, and transit improvements. We started this week by looking at the local roadway network and how it intersects with the highway. We came up with some preliminary concepts that are intended to improve safety and connectivity and reduce congestion. We met with our graphics staff to start illustrating these concepts for the workshop. Wednesday we looked at some draft sketches from our bicycle/pedestrian experts that illustrate their thoughts on sidewalks, bicycle lanes, and multi-use paths. The materials we’re pulling together now will be a starting point for the conversation about what the team should evaluate. We’ll have stations for: - bicycle/pedestrian - transit - local roadway improvements - regional (highway) improvements Remember to come with sleeves rolled up – we want your input! back to top
October 17, 2008 Two things to report this week. First, the technical team met on Wednesday (October 15) to brainstorm some ideas to discuss with the community at the upcoming workshop. We got our team of technical experts together in a room to consider potential: - Bicycle treatments - Pedestrian treatments - Transit improvements - Local roadway improvements - Highway improvements All the ideas we developed are conceptual in nature; we will wait to evaluate ideas until after we gather additional thoughts and ideas from the community at the workshop. The other thing we did this week was flesh out the content for the November 6th workshop. In addition to what we have already planned – a discussion of needs and brainstorming ideas for improvements – we also want to provide a forum for one-on-one or small group conversations with City and ODOT leaders. We heard clearly from our stakeholder interviews that the community wants to see ODOT and the City of Seaside working together. We have planned an area at the workshop where members of the community will be able to sign up for ten minutes with ODOT and City leaders. Talk about whatever you want to talk about! Ask questions. Or have them tell you what they hope to see out of the TSP. It’s your ten minutes. We are still working on who from the City and who from ODOT will be at this station, but we hope to have that nailed down by next Friday’s update. We’re excited about this concept, and hope you will be too. back to top
October 10, 2008 November 6 Public Workshop This week we started planning in earnest for the November 6th Public Workshop. We are preparing a series of maps called “Issues and Opportunities” that summarize what we learned from the existing and future conditions work we did over the summer, as well as what we heard from the summer assignment results, the stakeholder interviews, the first transportation summit, and the community survey. While there isn’t any new information, we hope it will be easier to digest than leafing through all the memos we have uploaded on this website. Next week the technical team is getting together to brainstorm improvements that could address these identified issues and opportunities. We plan to organize the improvements by transportation mode, including: - Bicycle - Pedestrian - Transit - Roadway – highway (segment) - Roadway – intersections - Roadway – local road connectivity - Other – visitor-oriented (parking, signage, etc.) Ideas generated by the team will be used as a starting point for discussions at the workshop November 6th. The format of this workshop will be for you (the community) to sit down with the City of Seaside, ODOT, Clatsop County, and the consultant team to talk through some improvement ideas. We are designing the meeting so you can drop by anytime between 5 and 8pm. Please see last week's update for more information. back to top
October 3, 2008 Community leaders talk transportation! We spoke to several community leaders in Seaside to learn more about how people get around and the need for improvements. Mayor Don Larson and City Manager Mark Winstanley identified some of the community leaders representing local developers, delivery professionals, local business owners, the hotel industry, news media, religious institutions, and the Seaside School District. What did we learn? Many community leaders pointed to the Pacific Ocean and the long stretches of sandy beach as Seaside’s best asset. As one person put it, “We live in a park, and cannot expect people to stop coming to the coast, but rather, we can learn to accept some traffic during the summertime, and try to make the travel experience better for all.” People interviewed were interested in considering the environment in design standards, including ways to make tansportation projects more environmentally friendly. Several said that they thought Seaside’s traffic problems were limited to a handful of weekends throughout the year. Most mentioned the area of US 101 near Safeway as a problem—pedestrians often try to cross the street at that point, but it is unsafe. Some pedestrians may not use the closest crosswalk because they feel it is out of their way. Many felt that there are ways to improve US 101 by addressing flooding that occurs at the southern end of town, adding traffic signals, and beautifying the highway with landscaping and signage. Many also identified 12th Avenue as a problem area — west of the highway people are allowed to park on the busy street, making it difficult to fit a car in each direction. People interviewed also indicated the need for sidewalks on Wahanna Road, Avenue S, and Holladay Drive north of Broadway. The feedback we received was very helpful. Please look at the Summary of Stakeholder Interviews Memo for more details. We’d like to hear more from the community at our upcoming transportation workshop: Thursday, November 6th Drop by anytime between 5:00 PM and 8:00 PM Broadway Middle School Cafeteria, 1120 Broadway St. (accessible by wheelchair) Mark your calendars! We hope to see you there! This workshop will be a ‘roll up your sleeves and grab a marker’ event. back to top
September 29, 2008 Date Set for Next Community Workshop! This past week we accomplished two important things. First, we met with 12 community leaders in Seaside. We are working on the summary of these meetings now and will discuss the highlights next Friday (10/3). The second thing we accomplished this week was to confirm a date for our next community meeting. This will be held Thursday, November 6th in the early evening (location announced soon). This meeting will be a workshop style, meaning we are asking members of the community to roll up their sleeves, grab a marker, and take a seat at the table with ODOT, the City of Seaside, and community leaders to finalize our discussion of needs, discuss how to evaluate improvements, and brainstorm ideas for transportation improvements in Seaside. This will be the first in a series of three workshops held in pretty quick succession. The project team will gather ideas generated by the community at the first workshop, draw up the concepts, and prepare an initial evaluation. The second workshop (slated for mid-December) will review, discuss, and weigh in on these draft concepts. The team will prepare revisions based on these discussions and prepare a set of revised concepts at the third workshop (slated for late January). Please contact the team if you have thoughts or questions on the workshop format. Please check back to this website in the coming weeks for the dates and location of the second and third workshops. back to top
September 19, 2008 Things are Moving Forward! We’re close to scheduling our next transportation workshop for the end of October and are just checking on possible locations before we post the date on this website. We hope to see a lot of people at the workshop, so please make a note on your calendars now! Just a reminder that this workshop will be a ‘roll up your sleeves and grab a marker’ event, where we’ll be working in small groups to: 1. Finalize our understanding of needs, with the benefit of our traffic analysis 2. Brainstorm improvements that the technical team will take back and develop We will be talking in groups around the three topic areas we formed back in June – connectivity, alternate modes, and bicycles. Right now we’re trying to understand whether people will be interested in all three topics (in which case we’d want to rotate groups among the three topics) or whether some people are more interested in just one topic area. We may just be flexible and see who is interested in what at the workshop, but email us if you have an opinion. Also, a status on our technical work. The existing conditions memo has been finalized. Technically we only have a few days left of summer so remember to complete the summer survey! And the future conditions work (preliminary findings shared in last week’s update) is going through the quality review process. This means that we are close to finishing the first phase of our project (understanding need). We are all looking forward to working with the community to develop ideas for improvements. back to top
September 15, 2008 What does the future hold? For the past few weeks, we have been exploring projected future traffic conditions in Seaside. This week we have some preliminary findings to share. What we are finding so far is that intersections along US 101 are expected to be very congested, and conditions at intersections controlled by stop signs are expected to be worse than intersections controlled by traffic lights. The projected congested conditions along US 101 point to a need for improvement in the future. I know this comes as no surprise to you, and it was expected by our team as well. One surprise, however, was the traffic counts themselves. The July counts we took, which were supposed to reflect summertime peak conditions, were lower than we expected. Why? The recent increase in gas prices has affected travel nationwide, which is down by approximately 4 percent compared to 2007 rates nationally. Similarly, we observed lower than expected traffic counts here in Seaside. A lot of transportation forecasting professionals around the state are working on a response to this observation. In the meantime, we are using the higher traffic counts with the assumption that even if the rate of growth in traffic slows, this slower growth would typically delay the need for improvements by only a few years, and does not mean that improvements are not needed at all. Join us at the upcoming Workshop to learn more! During the last two weeks of October, the project will host a Workshop during the evening that will focus on: • A review of the technical analysis that tells us system needs now and in the future; • A review of web survey results (paper copies were distributed at City Hall)—people told us in their words about the transportation system; • Brainstorming of solutions; and • A focus on local connectivity, pedestrian issues, and alternative modes of transportation, which were needs identified through the web survey and the Transportation Summit held in June. We are finalizing the date for the Workshop over the next few days, so please check back here next week to find out more. You still have a chance to complete the Summer Assignment, that allows you to share with us your general observations about the transportation system and pictures of things that work or don’t. back to top
September 8, 2008 - Guest Column Larry McKinley - Oregon Department of Transportation, Area 1 Manager Clatsop County STIP Open House My name is Larry McKinley and I am the Area 1 Manager for ODOT. I oversee all the projects that are currently in design or construction in Clatsop and Tillamook counties. ODOT would like to invite you to join us on September 10th at an open house to talk about potential projects that ODOT is considering funding. Road and bridge projects along Oregon’s highways are funded via the State Transportation Improvement Plan (STIP). You often hear the term “STIP” utilized by ODOT personnel when talking about projects under design and in construction. It is the budget mechanism that funds all State and Federal highway projects. To have a major project placed in the STIP by the Oregon Transportation Commission (OTC) it must first be identified in an adopted Transportation System Plan (TSP). This is why it is so important for Seaside to have an adopted TSP. Without an adopted TSP, Seaside’s chances for getting highway improvement money are very limited. ODOT is currently preparing a list of recommended projects for consideration by the OTC for the 2010-2013 STIP. ODOT has seen a decrease in the amount of money ODOT has for projects. ODOT has also seen an increase in material costs, such as oil, concrete and steel. This has resulted in some projects being cancelled to make others whole. The area of Seaside is located within Region 2, which covers 9 counties. In 2010 – 2013, Region 2 is expected to receive about $11.5 million for modernization projects. latsop and Tillamook counties are forecasted to receive $1.5 million (out of the $11.5 million) to fund an environmental assessment on US 101 from Camp Rilea to Surf Pines. OTC Chair, Gail Achterman, at the March Commission meeting in Astoria stated that any major highway improvement projects (such as a bypass) will have to compete statewide for limited modernization dollars. This reemphasizes the need to focus our efforts during the TSP on transportation improvements of all sizes that can complete region-wide and statewide. Open House Details September 10, 2005 5:00 – 7:00pm Warrenton Community Center 170 SW 3rd St. Warrenton, OR Representatives will be on site to answer questions regarding upcoming projects and listen to your input. Public input is a key component of project development. Hope to see you there!
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August 29, 2008 - Guest Column David Nyes - Oregon Department of Transportation, District 1 Manager I would like to introduce myself as the new District Manager for northwest Oregon’s ODOT District 1 office in Astoria. The District office maintains, operates, and permits activities on the State Highway System. I have worked in highway operations and maintenance for about 30 years and look forward to this new opportunity and a chance to meet with you about transportation issues. I am from the Bend District office in Central Oregon where I had the opportunity to deal with growth and transportation related challenges in a booming area. I know that there is a lot to do, and I’m looking forward to trading my snow boots for a rain suit and getting my feet wet. Having experienced growth issues in the Bend area, I am ready to face similar challenges in Astoria. Working together will build successful partnerships. Similar to the pioneers on the Oregon Trail (who did not cross the country on their own, one wagon at a time) we will rely on a group of diverse people to help one another solve transportation challenges. I like to think we are still pioneers working together to move goods, services, and citizens through our communities so that future generations can continue to enjoy what we have been given. The Seaside TSP is one way that we can create the vision for future transportation in Astoria and help guide these partnerships. Without this documented vision, present and future generations may struggle to interpret what the transportation system should look. I will enjoy seeing this vision become reality and want the citizens of Oregon to be proud of what we have done. I am committed to helping us succeed, because we need to pass our vision to the next generation of transportation planners and citizens. Your hard work and commitment is very much appreciated. Thank you for this opportunity to introduce myself, if you have any questions or concerns with ODOT Operations and Maintenance, or just want to say hi, please give me a call at the District Office. If we can’t answer your transportation question, we will find someone who can. David J. Neys District Manager Oregon Department of Transportation 350 W. Marine Drive Astoria, OR 97103 Office (503) 325-7222 Fax (503) 325-1314
August 22, 2008 What does 30th Highest Hour mean? All the technical traffic work we do for the Seaside TSP, and for many transportation planning projects in Oregon, is done for the 30th Highest Hour. We use this term a lot, but rarely is there as good an example of what we’re talking about as what is coming up this weekend in Seaside. The 30th Highest Hour is technically exactly what it says. We don’t do our analysis for the highest hour of traffic volume during a given year or time period. We also do not do our analysis for a typical traffic condition. Rather, we pick the 30th Highest Hour condition. This standard tries to get at those heavy traffic conditions that are not extraordinary. An example of an extraordinary traffic condition would be tomorrow, when the Hood to Coast runners and the Portland to Coast walkers descend in Seaside. This event is the largest relay race in the world, with over 12,000 runners and close to 5,000 walkers, combined with more than 3,500 volunteers, all finishing the race right at the Prom in Seaside. Participants are in teams, but those teams travel in vans when they are not running or walking. This means a lot of traffic for Seaside. It is likely to be Seaside’s #1 Highest Traffic Hour of the year. Typically we don’t tend to want to design our improvements to serve one event. If we did, it could mean a lot more paving than anyone – the City, the state, or the community – would be willing to support. The 30th Highest Hour captures what traffic is like during regular heavy traffic periods. For the Oregon coast, the 30th Highest Hour tends to be a Friday afternoon or a Sunday afternoon in the month of August. The work that you’ve seen to date and what we’re continuing to work on in September looks at what problems are observed in Seaside during the 2008’s 30th Highest Hour, as well as what we anticipate issues to be in 2030’s 30th Highest Hour. This all serves as the basis for the project improvements.
August 15, 2008 - Guest Column Kevin S. Cupples, AICP - City of Seaside, Planning Director A Transportation System Plan (TSP) is a long range planning document (a twenty year plan) that guides the identification of and investment in future transportation facilities and services. TSPs are produced to meet State and regional planning requirements and to address local transportation needs for cost-effective highway, street, transit, freight, bicycle, and pedestrian improvements. The City of Seaside’s TSP will serve as the transportation element of our local comprehensive plan and it is intended to provide a balanced transportation system that supports livability and economic growth. Since land use and transportation are inextricably linked, the Seaside TSP will allow us to take a broad look at future system needs instead of making all decisions on a case by case basis. This is important because it helps anticipate potential development impacts and plan improvements where they are needed the most. If Seaside continues to grow without any improvements to the transportation system, the system will ultimately fail. The TSP will support proactive measures that are intended to avoid the failure all together. From a public investment standpoint, planning to avoid failures is generally less costly than attempting to fix the system after a failure has occurred. Furthermore, the plan itself is often used to leverage public funding sources that can help offset the costs for needed improvements. In other words, without a TSP, some necessary projects simply won’t qualify for grant funding programs. The City of Seaside is continuing to grow, and that growth will continue to place demands on our current transportation infrastructure. Through public participation in the TSP planning process, we are hoping to anticipate those demands and make reasonable accommodation for them in the future. At present, the City is considering an expansion of the urban growth boundary (UGB) to allow for additional housing development and encompass land outside of hazard zones for some public facilities. If this is to be accomplished, we will need to have these areas included in the current TSP so we can prepare for the demands they will create. We hope the public will stay involved with the future UGB and the TSP planning activities. Public input will add to the ultimate success of both planning efforts and help us all prepare for the future.
August 11, 2008 It’s time for a transit update! We have been working closely with the Sunset Empire Transportation District (SETD) and wanted to share what we’ve found on existing transit service in Seaside and results from recent rider surveys. The SETD provides Route 20 Gray Sea Gull transit service within Gearhart, Seaside, and Cannon Beach, and the Route 101 Pink Salmon connects Seaside to many other destinations throughout Clatsop County, including: Gearhart, Cannon Beach, Astoria, Warrenton, and Westport. The SETD provides county-wide “Dial-a-Ride” service for the elderly, disabled and those living far from fixed routes. The SETD also coordinates with Oregon Coachways, a charter motor coach company, to provide once daily service to Portland. Results from recent SETD’s rider surveys show transit to be of great interest to Seaside residents. When asked to indicate why they ride the bus, almost half of riders said they take transit because they don’t have a car available. Approximately one in four riders said they can’t/don’t know how to drive, and almost one-fifth said they ride because they prefer to take the bus. Another transit rider survey revealed the following rider recommendations to improve SETD service: lowering prices (19 percent), adding more stops/routes (17 percent), expanding service hours into the evenings and early mornings (11 percent), adding more stops in outlying areas (11 percent), providing bus service on Sundays (11 percent), and including more direct/non-stop routes between Astoria, Seaside, and Cannon Beach (10 percent). The SETD has itemized several goals and strategies to improve transit service in its Comprehensive Plan. These goals include: 1. strengthen access to public transportation, 2. provide cost-effective and safe public transportation, and 3. increase ridership by improving the frequency and connectivity of fixed-route service. We’ll continue to work with Cindy and the SETD to incorporate specific transit improvements into the Seaside TSP.
August 1, 2008 More talk about traffic? It’s the phase we’re in. This week we got preliminary results from our “existing conditions” work, which showed some traffic issues at the main east-west connector streets in town - US 101 and 12th Avenue; US 101 and Broadway; and US 101 at 24th Avenue/Lewis & Clark Road. The problems seem to be with the cross traffic moving east-west that are having a difficult time crossing the highway. I know, this sounds obvious to people that live in Seaside full time – but remember that documentation and justification will be critical when we start looking for ways to improve how people move around Seaside! We’ve also started to get in the traffic data from our July counts. You’ll recall from earlier updates that the team – upon request from City Council – collected traffic data in mid-July along US 101. We collected data in April and forecasted it to reflect what we thought things would look like in July, and then we collected data in July to make sure we got it correct. We are pleased to start getting the data back so we can compare, adjust as appropriate, and finalize our “existing conditions” work. We are pulling together our land use scenario. So far we’re focusing on six potential growth areas: 1. South end of town, along Sunset/Ocean Vista 2. South end of town, east of US 101, along Avenue S 3. Along and east of Wahanna Road, in vicinity of Broadway 4. Mid-end of town, along of Wahanna Road, between Shoreline Terrace and Beachview Terrace 5. North end of town, along Lewis & Clark Road 6. Mid- to north end of town, between Prom and Necanicum River Please note that this work will take us until the middle of August, but we’ll share findings as they’re developed and will have details available at the next public workshop as well. Finally, we will be working on getting some guests to post on this updates page in August. Stay tuned!
July 25, 2008 This past week we had a meeting to discuss how to address potential future development in the Seaside TSP. This conversation was important because future development will impact the type, size, and location of transportation improvements needed in the City. Typically when we forecast future traffic levels, we use one of two methods. For larger urban areas we use a travel demand model, which is a fairly sophisticated tool that considers population and employment growth by small geographic areas called traffic analysis zones (TAZs). Trips generated by growth in population and employment are assigned to the transportation network, distributed based on origins and destinations, and assigned a mode (i.e., cars, bicycles, transit, walking). However, travel demand models are not available for many smaller urban areas, including Seaside. For areas without a travel demand model, the typical process is to look at historic traffic growth and apply this same rate to the future, growing all parts of the City at the same rate. Some jurisdictions have been using a third method called Cumulative Analysis which applies a simplified version of the same steps as travel demand models to smaller urban areas. We are using this method in Seaside, using what the City already knows about projected growth in population and employment, available lands by zone, and known environmental constraints that would limit development. The meeting this week was for the project team to discuss future development projections in Seaside, land use availability, development constraints, and how to assess potential development outside the Urban Growth Boundary. The team agreed on an approach that allows the team to analyze future traffic conditions in the month of August. This analysis is needed to complete the first phase of the TSP “Identification of Need” and must be completed before the workshop planned for September.
July 21, 2008 The remainder of the summer traffic counts were collected this past Saturday (July 19th). The weather was warm and sunny, so we expect that the information will give us a great sense of typical summertime travel conditions in Seaside. Reminder that the team will use this information, combined with those counts collected back in April, to help evaluate traffic flow and delay along the highway (US 101) through Seaside. The Project Management Team is finishing up its review of Existing Conditions and Deficiencies. This work prepares an inventory of the current roadway, bicycle, pedestrian, and transit network in Seaside (local and state facilities) and identifies key deficiencies in regards to safety, mobility, and connectivity. We expect to revise the Existing Conditions and Deficiencies work and post it to the website in early August. We continue our work on the future land use scenario. This week the team is meeting to discuss how to address potential growth outside the City limits and Urban Growth Boundary. As we know, this requires a balance between land and environmental constraints outside the Urban Growth Boundary with the desire to accommodate development consistent with Tsunami Emergency Preparedness Plans. Our team hopes to document information at this meeting that will be relevant to the development of the Future Conditions and Deficiencies work. With the conclusion of our Existing and Future Conditions and Deficiencies work, we will be complete with our first project phase – Determining Project Need. The next phase of the project will be kicked off with a public workshop in September called Brainstorming Potential Improvements.
July 11, 2008 Please be aware that summer traffic counts will be collected tomorrow (Saturday July 12th), as well as next Saturday July 19th. We will be capturing information at the following areas:
The intent of this effort is to understand as clearly as possible what traffic is like along the state highway during the summertime. These counts are in response to a request from the Seaside City Council and Planning Commission at our meeting with them in March. This information will improve our understanding of how well (or not well) traffic moves along the highway. These are 16-hour counts so you’ll see cameras up for the majority of the day. A crew from the Oregon Department of Transportation will be mounting cameras at intersections late Friday or early Saturday, and removing them late Saturday or early Sunday. Half of these intersections will be counted tomorrow, and the other half next Saturday (July 19th). Our team will use the information to count the number of cars traveling through the intersection, record their movement (traveling straight vs. turning), make note of how many bicyclists and pedestrians pass through an intersection, and record the number of axles on each vehicle. This latter observation helps us identify the percent of trucks as part of overall traffic.
July 3, 2008 Happy 4th of July! We are sure that Seaside will be busy this weekend, and the weather should hold out for some nice beach activities. This week we finalized our summary of the first transportation summit we had on June 18th. The participation at this summit was fantastic and we’re excited by all the good feedback we received. The summer assignment is up on the project website and we are starting to get some early responses from the community. Please be aware that summer traffic counts will be collected on Saturday, July 12 and Saturday, July 19. We’ll send more specifics on that next week so you know what to expect. Also this week we’ve been coordinating quite a bit with Cindy Howe at the Sunset Empire Transportation District. Cindy has been very helpful in providing information on current transit routes, ridership, and results from rider surveys. This information has helped us tremendously in understanding current transit service and how we might consider future improvements in the TSP. Finally, we’ve been working with the City of Seaside and Clatsop County to develop a “future land use scenario.” This scenario looks at what type of future development might occur in Seaside, how much we might expect, and where it might go. This work gets at some of the questions we heard at the summit, such as whether the school(s) might relocate, and how much development might take place east and/or south of Wahanna Road. This is an interesting and interactive process, but will challenge us as we move through the summer.
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